The Senate on Wednesday scrapped its earlier position on direct mode of primary elections in the Electoral Bill going through amendment.
This followed an amendment by the conference committee which recommended that “the direct primary mode of election be expunged.”
The direct primary is now replaced with three options which are direct, indirect and consensus in clause 85 of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2021.
President Muhammadu Buhari had refused to assent to the bill when it was submitted to him late last year by the federal lawmakers, on the grounds that the bill allowed only direct primary as an option for political parties to select their candidates.
Buhari, however, in a recent interview, promised to assent to the bill if it is amended to allow for indirect and consensus options as a mode of primary elections.
